Connie Vella had high expectations for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and what it would mean for her four-year-old daughter Hannah, who has bilateral hearing loss.

The Cranebrook woman went to her meeting with an NDIS planner earlier this year, well prepared with quotes from a range of hearing specialists and a list of the supports Hannah would require.

All up, the quotes came to $34,000 including early intervention services, speech pathology, language therapy, a school readiness program and hearing aids.

Mrs Vella was stunned when the planner returned with a package worth $12,000.

“It was a massive gap,” she said. “We are supposed to be no worse off under the NDIS. We’re a lot worse off. I’m a good advocate for Hannah but there are families out there who’ll just accept what’s on offer and that worries me for these children.”

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald